Thursday, April 28, 2005

Critical Mass Tomorrow

Tomorrow is NYC critical mass and I think this one is fairly critical. Critical to show up at one of the four locations and prove to the City and the NYPD that we won't be intimidated with false arrests, harassment of flyers that have no legal merit and all the other dirty tricks the police have been pulling since RNC. Let's not forget about 90 percent of the RNC arrests being dismissed, the police using helicopters to video tape people making out on roofs, possible investigation coming forward in false RNC arrests.

Critical to come out and ride, even if rain is looming.

Critical to ride even if the road in unpaved on 7th Ave from 32nd to Houston St.

Critical to engage in a world wide bicycle event that happens in over 300 cities around the world.

Jesus Christ Action Astor Place

Thanks to Fred Askew, street action photographer extraodinaire, we are able to witness yet another artistic powerful protest of one individual taking matters into his own hands. Yes that is a real person who decided to protest war by dressing up as Jesus and climbing on top of a street lamp post for all of Lower Manhattan to see. Around his waste is an American flag as his swaddling cloth and above his head is a small sign that says, "War?" This makes me think of the advertisement one automaker tried to come up with to infuse our savior in its marketing campaign by posing the simple question..."what car would jesus drive?" Makes you wonder in this age of oil war and enviromental destruction due to the automobile exactly what car would he drive? Or would the baredoot healer of the sick just walk or better ride a bicycle. Then you have to ask if we're going to bring Christ into all this, what would he think about going to war for oil? What country would Jesus bomb in our brand new crusade to fight the Turks?

I think it was a nice symbolic action. Props to the artist and props to Fred Askew taking the photos and putting them up on Indymedia...

http://nyc.indymedia.org/newswire/display/149018/index.php

also constantly check www.fredaskew.com for great timely photos of everything New York.

Speaking of taking maters into their own hands...

I also discovered the Bicycle-Riders Freedom Front on Indy Media. I'm not sure if it is a good idea to use the initials FF in this age of demonizing environmentalists as terrorists with similar names like ELF and ALF but all the more reason to do it because Media fear hype is way more of a problem then anything these groups engage in.

Anyho, these people did an action to help bike riders and I applaude them.

Here is the Indymedia article...

In the early morning hours of Tuesday, April 26, 2005, members of the Bicycle-riders Freedom Front (BFF) dismantled a section of the recently installed anti-bike barriers on the Brooklyn side of the Manhattan Bridge.Below is the anonymous communique sent out by Bicycle-Riders Freedom Front members in NYC about recently taken action.____

To whom it may concern:

In the early morning hours of Tuesday, April 26, 2005, members of the Bicycle-riders Freedom Front (BFF) dismantled a section of the recently installed anti-bike barriers on the Brooklyn side of the Manhattan Bridge. These barriers prevent cyclists from taking a direct exit off of the bike path and force them to follow a lengthy detour to the unlit underside of the Manhattan Bridge, where several cyclists have reported incidents of harassment.

These barriers are just another hazard of living in a city designed and shaped by car-worshippingideologues. For years, cyclists in New York City have believed that they have had no choice but to live with inadequate bike lanes, inconsiderate and aggressive drivers, and poorly designed and maintained bike paths and bridges. Every day cyclists are the victims of hit and run drivers who are rarely held culpable for their actions. Every day cyclists are forced to compete with car traffic because their bike paths-- if they are lucky enough to be on one of the few roads with a demarcated bike path-- are blocked by idling and double-parked vehicles, including police vehicles.Every day cyclists injure themselves and damage their bikes on bridges built without any consideration for bicycle and pedestrian safety.

If moderates continue to fail to win changes, we will take direct action. We want the dangerous bumps on the Williamsburg Bridge bike path removed by the city or we will remove them ourselves. We demand that lights be installed on the Willis Avenue Bridge and that a stop light and crosswalk be constructed on the Bronx side of the bridge, where pedestrians and cyclists are presently forced to cross multiple lanes of fast traffic.

We are pedestrians and bicyclists who refuse to submit to the tyranny of car-centrist urban planners who desigh and build OUR city for the convenience of the automobile. We call for other walkers and riders to pick up the wrench and help us to dismantle car culture one bolt at a time.

Yours,

BFF

So Friday is the big Critical Mass.

April 29th

at 6:00pm there is a speak out on the steps of the South Side of Union Square. "Still we Speak." This is a permited gathering to let people know about how the city is attacking critical mass and Time's up an 18 year environmental group that should be rewarded for there commitment to a cleaner and more environmental friendly New York City.

Then at 7:00pm its time to pick your spot to start Critical Mass.

There are 4 start point options

1) Madison Park (23rd and Broadway)

2) Union Square North (the standard meeting spot for critical mass for about 8 years)

3) Tompkin square park

4) Washington Square park.

If you are an avid CMers I highly recomend supporting another location besides Union Square Park. When you get to that location, look for other riders and try and gather stragelers to one spot...I think this will become clear.

If you have never been to Critical Mass and were waiting for the warm weather...I say go to Union Square.

The idea is to break things up and make critical mass more fun. One goal will be to try and link up these rides from all 4 locations, but it may not happen. We may all be riding around the city as 4 happy little crews. I'd use the word cells but then of course thanks to media fear mongering...well you get the idea.

Thursday, April 21, 2005

Things gettin bad

New York City is kicking free speech to the curb and acting like they are doing nothing wrong. Everyday I read in the paper about some new permit issue the city is dealing with. Every time the people want to get together and do something that is not a corporate private party for Paris Hilton or a Michael Bloomberg fundraising campaign then it’s trouble for the people of the city of New York. This all started back in February 15th 2003 when millions of people around the world got together and said…I don’t think invading Iraq is an appropriate response to a bunch of CIA trained Saudi Terrorists getting mad at there once friends the Bush family and blowing up the World Trade Center. Thousands of people rallied in New York City to try and avert an impending disaster which we are now mired in up to our foreheads in a far off place called Iraq. I don’t know if you’ve been checking the news lately between new former Nazi youth pope selections and if Michael Jackson got kids drunk on Jesus juice…but Iraq isn’t lookin too pretty with how many suicide bombings yesterday? Thousands were in the streets protesting in New York and all over the damn place…even in Antarctica. The police responded by doing what they do best…lying. Oh no. How can I diss America’s heroes? Easily, when they act like America’s zeros, which they have been doing since 911. Somehow the blowing up over their buddies in NYC on September 11th has become a nation wide attack on free speech and the constitutional right of free assembly. On February 15th they were just following orders when the lied to the public about where they could enter the rally site, near the UN. Lets not forget the insanity we went through just to get a place to assemble. The one area they sectioned off for the rally, they made it such a pain in the ass to get to and then told the media…well I guess people just don’t care about this demonstration. Meanwhile were walking around trying to figure out where to go, when cops were telling us…oh no you can only enter on 54th Street…go to 54th street…no no you can only enter on 55th street. That was closed…you get the picture. So people just stopped in the middle of the street…because there were so many damn people who wanted to say no to war. Then the police used barricades on us, pepper spray and my favorite horses. I thought with all the video footage from independent media people and those on the streets lucky enough to be in the right spot with cameras that the city would learn a valuable lesson. Let us have a rally and a march, which is supposed to be granted to us by this crusty old piece of paper written 200 years ago called the constitution. Nope. This is just an excuse for cops and the city to use their favorite words…Terrorism, 911, 911 911…can I call 911 when the cops are running me over with horses? Nope. So the New York Civil Liberties Union put out a 26 page color document which recorded all the abuses about Feb 15th and to no avail nothing became of it.. The right to speak with your feet just got more suppressed. Then we dealt with all that RNC stuff because our supposed Democratic mayor wanted to bring all his republican friends here for their little convention. Maybe he wanted to make a little money from those guys since they never gave us the 911 funds they were supposed to give out to fix up NYC. After all its not like we were the only city were planes flew into our buildings. In fact, the Nation magazine reported that New York was the 49th least funded state our of 50. Hmmmm. So the republicans came to town and once again we couldn’t get a permit for central park. The police are always screaming…get a permit. Get a permit. Then when you try and comply, even put in for it a year in advance…they drag there feet until the last minute and say…sorry we don’t want to damage the lawn and then blame you for being difficult. So we weren’t allowed to rally in central Park. Meanwhile the police were doing there best to round up anyone who even looked like they were going to march. The cops found a new friend in the orange plastic nets, movable barricades that they could just roll out like an unwelcoming red carpet and snatch up everyone, even if you were just going to the store to get Sushi. Oops. Just work it out in the courts later. Not only will we arrest you and hold you longer than 24 hours, we will stick you in a converted toxic bus depot just to make the civil law suits more interesting. Now I may be sounding like a big whiner here and you may be asking well where is the proof. Don’t take my word for it…check the news. The NYTimes released an article that 90 percent of the 1,800 people arrested during RNC were dismissed. Bu Bye. They were also found out to be lying to the courts about how these arrests took place and saying that people were much more violent then the police report said. They were so lacking in confedeience about the cases that they had to edit video footage to try and sway the judge but there was this pesky video team roaming the streets who had the same footage only unedited. Meanwhile the city has agreed to pay 150 dollars to all those who were arrested for and held longer than 24 hours. You are only supposed to be held 24 before arraignment. That’s not even talking about the civil suits that are coming down the pike for holding people in toxic conditions. This is totaling up to 89 million dollars against the city. How are we supposed to make money off RNC when in the long run we have to shell out all this money for false arrests and civil suits? Huh Mike Bloomberg? You tell us cause you are such a smart business man who is too busy in Germany trying to bribe the Olympic committee to hold a sporting event here 7 years from now. Bloomberg did respond to the charges and said…the city did nothing wrong. That’s odd cause the courts seemed to think so. Why are they giving people money to shut them up than? Meanwhile the hits just keep on coming as it gets closer to re-election time. The city is trying to stop critical mass, a 8 year old bike ride that has been happening the last Friday of every month. They are denying permits for May day celebrations even though groups have been doing events for 8 years and never had a problem. Take Blackkat for instance. They have had a May Day fest in Tompkins Square Park for years and now the city says sorry…can’t give you a permit…we are painting flowers. Huh? Apparently that festival is still going on only without a stage…gee thanks guys…I sure hope those flowers look good. Also there is no march scheduled for May Day out of Union Square…no surprise there. I guess asking for a permit a year ago wasn’t soon enough. Also the city is trying to get together a bill that would only allow 6 large gatherings in Central Park a year. 4 of those would go to the Sympony and the Opera, which leaves 2 chances to have a demonstration in that public place called Central Park. Maybe if Whole foods had a party to celebrate the opening of there 25 new stores that would be ok.

If you are at all troubled by this growing attack on free speech and civil liberties…if you fear NYC will be a giant mall within 2 years…it is time to take action.

Friday, April 29th at 6:00pm will be a speak out at Union Square South to talk about these issues and about the attack on critical mass. It is all related. We are losing our rights daily. Are we just going to elect Mayor Bloomberg again for 4 more years of development and his silence on attacks of our constitutional rights?

Saturday, April 16, 2005

Unsafe bumps and DOT responsible? YES!

In addition to the problems we are encountering riding our bikes, as a group there is still the problems cyclists face on the average commute. Take Transportation Alternatives spokesperson Noah Budnick for example. Here is one of the safest riders I can possibly imagine who has been recently hospitalized during an accident on the Brooklyn side of the Manhattan Bridge. The cause of the crash is uncertain. A pothole, a police tow truck. The details are still under investigation. Here is a safe rider, who is constantly advocating for more bike lanes, more civic improvements for riders. A guy who always wears his helmet who ended up in the hospital. Now, what is the city doing to improve the roadways for bike riders? There have been lots of advancements. The West side Highway is a good example. There is a plan to do the same thing with the East side. A functioning greenway with wide bike lanes for people to commute along side Manhattan's beautiful waterways. Meanwhile we have a big problem on the Williamsburg Bridge that the city seems to be ignoring. That bridge used to be a real mess, with metal slates exposing huge gaping holes, poorly lit with the fear that a mugger would jump out at you and steal your bike and this often occurred. The city met the demands of the increase in popularity to bike riding and fixed up the bridge or needed to repair the bridge and allowed proper bike lanes for cyclists. Either way we got a big improvement, except for one thing. These large expansion joint covers, which are like speed bumps on the Manhattan side pedestrian ramp. Who thought this would be a good idea? Why are they not on the Brooklyn side (thank god) Did they feel that people only needed to slow down if they are entering precious Manhattan? In the construction of the bridge, which goes over theJ,M and Z train the bike path needed to have these expansion joints and somehow they needed to be covered. For cyclists, this is a big pain in the ass, literally. Every time the 3,000 bike riders who use this bridge on the daily have to smack over 26 2 inch bumps. Why couldn't we get the nice bike path improvements without it being a physical challenge each time you commute? So now people are complaining. TA has launched a major campaign to the Department of Transportation to replace the bumps with something lower or less dangerous. TA did a survey and found that 90 percent of 250 people interviewed found the bumps dangerous. There are also several injury lawsuits against the city for people hurt on the bumps, amounting to 10 million dollars. DOT has been told this is a problem, and what do they do? They put up signs on both sides of the bridge warning people about the bumps. These signs went up last week. They also have theses signs that tell people it's not the bumps that are the problem it's the way people ride over them. This is indicated with arrows on the sign instructing people that they need to go straight over the joint covers. Is this what they are going to tell plaintiffs in court with broken collarbones. Judge: "I see you point with that neck brace and all but it looks like your client failed to ride his bike properly over the bump." Once again this is a classic city move to blame the victim for the cities mistakes. Its like if a car swerves over 3 lanes of traffic and kills a cyclist trying to make an illegal left turn and the city rules that the bike rider should have been more careful and worn his/her helmet. Unbelievable. How much money did the city spend on some 40 odd signs to warn people about these bumps, instead of removing them with a cheaper safer alternative? I highly recommend checking the TA website: www.transportationalternatives.org and finding a way to write to the DOT department of bridges and tunnels and complaining. It is my understanding from an inside DOT source that they are well aware of the problem and the complaints but are stailing on action because of personality ego and claims that it would be too expensive to change the joints. I think it is all the more reason to file a complaint and get this nonsense to change.

Wednesday, April 13, 2005

Brooklyn Critical Mass April 05

Brooklyn Critical mass rides again Friday April 8th. I was with a small splinter group that met at a park at the base of the Williamsburg Bridge on the Brooklyn side. We decided to go to Queens and Long Island city and not to try and meet up with the other group who meets at 7:00pm at Grand Army Plaza. Against purple backlit sunset skies and skylines of brand new waste treatment centers we rode on in a group of about 12 people. This is a hard place to be in when you are trying to take over the lane of traffic and angry New Yorkers are honking and yelling curse words at you. This is what it must have been like back in the days when critical mass was first being experimented with. It was also reminiscent of the days when cops weren't attacking you either.

Friday, April 08, 2005

Critical Mass needs you!

The Critical Mass Bike Ride wants you! Itâ€™s getting warmer. Time to take that bicycle out of the closet and oil up that chain. Now more than ever we need people to attend the critical mass bike ride which has been happening on the last Friday of every month in New York City for 7 years.

The next one is April 29th, 2005.

The NYPD would like you to think that the ride is dangerous, that it is a menace that it has been taken over by troublemaking anarchists. They would like you to believe that riding more than 2 abreast is illegal. That running red lights makes you a procession and that more than 20 people in a procession without a permit is illegal. They want you to think there is such a thing as illegally locking up your bicycle. None of this is true. People have been suing against the police for illegal bicycle seizures and winning.

Now the NYPD wants to shut down this event in NYC, that happens in over 300 cities around the globe. They think that by arresting people, attacking them with scoters, stealing property, tying up the court system with false arrests and general harassment through lying will make people too intimidated and just plain go away.

On top of all this, the police are trying to sue 4 individuals from the environmental group Time's Up. These 4 people were identified because they have been speaking to the media to try and explain how the NYPD is lying to the public. The NYPD is trying to convince the city that Timeâ€™s up is responsible for Critical mass and that it should simply apply for a permit. This is not how Critical mass works. It is not a group, it is a leaderless phenomenon, where people show up in one spot and go for a bike ride, in the street, where bicycles legally belong.

Time's Up is an environmental education non-profit that has been leading bike rides for over 18 years. It is all-volunteer. which has been providing free events including environmental bike tours, bicycle maintenance workshops, movie screenings and lots of bike rides. This group should be rewarded for trying to make NYC a more bike friendly, cleaner and livable city not harassed and burdened with lawsuits.

The current lawsuit being brought by the city, claims 3 things:

1) That critical mass must apply for a permit.2) That no more than 20 people can gather in one spot in order to meet for critical mass without a permit.3) Timeâ€™s up cannot advertise for critical mass because it is an illegal event.

This goes against the basic principles of the constitution directly effecting free speech and free assembly. This lawsuit sets a precedence not only towards this bike ride but also to all groups and anyone gathered anywhere in the city. It also is trying to say that you cannot talk about an event. This is ludicrous. 1984 is close, but not here yet.

I feel that the counter to this is to show up in massive numbers and ride in critical mass. Every month and increase our numbers instead of going away. Are the Orwellian tactics of the police going away? Is there waste of tax dollar resources for a bike ride going away? Is our dependence on foreign oil causing war and massive pollution going away?

I ask you for 2 things.

1) To show up at critical mass the last Friday of this month. There will also be a speak out at the South Side of Union square explaining the situation and letting people voice there opinions. If you don't have a bike or donâ€™t want to go on the rideâ€¦show up at 6:00pm and show support. Then the ride will meet in 4 places choose your favorite park. I will be at Washington Square. Show up at 7:00pm

2) Donate to the Time's Up legal defense fund. We have retained civil rights lawyer and public advocate candidate Norman Siegel and need funding to fight these charges in State court. You can donate at the Time's up website...www.time's-up.org

This is not just about people fighting for their right to the road. This is about freedom of speech and free assembly which is being attacked by and administration that only cares about Football Stadiums and luxury apartment development, making the average price of an apartment $1.2 million dollars. They are trying to make it impossible to live here and impossible to ride our bikes as a group.

Lets show them who cares about the environment, the constitution and about the NYC community. Still we ride.

Critical mass needs you

The Critical Mass Bike Ride wants you! It’s getting warmer. Time to take that bicycle out of the closet and oil up that chain. Now more than ever we need people to attend the critical mass bike ride which has been happening on the last Friday of every month in New York City for 7 years.

The next one is April 29th, 2005.

The NYPD would like you to think that the ride is dangerous, that it is a menace that it has been taken over by troublemaking anarchists. They would like you to believe that riding more than 2 abreast is illegal. That running red lights makes you a procession and that more than 20 people in a procession without a permit is illegal. They want you to think there is such a thing as illegally locking up your bicycle. None of this is true. People have been suing against the police for illegal bicycle seizures and winning.

Now the NYPD wants to shut down this event in NYC, that happens in over 300 cities around the globe. They think that by arresting people, attacking them with scoters, stealing property, tying up the court system with false arrests and general harassment through lying will make people too intimidated and just plain go away.

On top of all this, the police are trying to sue 4 individuals from the environmental group Time’s Up. These 4 people were identified because they have been speaking to the media to try and explain how the NYPD is lying to the public. The NYPD is trying to convince the city that Time’s up is responsible for Critical mass and that it should simply apply for a permit. This is not how Critical mass works. It is not a group, it is a leaderless phenomenon, where people show up in one spot and go for a bike ride, in the street, where bicycles legally belong.

Time’s Up is an environmental education non-profit that has been leading bike rides for over 18 years. It is all-volunteer. which has been providing free events including environmental bike tours, bicycle maintenance workshops, movie screenings and lots of bike rides. This group should be rewarded for trying to make NYC a more bike friendly, cleaner and livable city not harassed and burdened with lawsuits.

The current lawsuit being brought by the city, claims 3 things:

1) That critical mass must apply for a permit.2) That no more than 20 people can gather in one spot in order to meet for critical mass without a permit.3) Time’s up cannot advertise for critical mass because it is an illegal event.

This goes against the basic principles of the constitution directly effecting free speech and free assembly. This lawsuit sets a precedence not only towards this bike ride but also to all groups and anyone gathered anywhere in the city. It also is trying to say that you cannot talk about an event. This is ludicrous. 1984 is close, but not here yet.

I feel that the counter to this is to show up in massive numbers and ride in critical mass. Every month and increase our numbers instead of going away. Are the Orwellian tactics of the police going away? Is there waste of tax dollar resources for a bike ride going away? Is our dependence on foreign oil causing war and massive pollution going away?

I ask you for 2 things.

1) To show up at critical mass the last Friday of this month. There will also be a speak out at the South Side of Union square explaining the situation and letting people voice there opinions. If you don’t have a bike or don’t want to go on the ride…show up at 6:00pm and show support. Then the ride will meet in 4 places choose your favorite e park…I will be at Washington Square. Show up at 7:00pm

2) Donate to the Time’s Up legal defense fund. We have retained civil rights lawyer and public advocate candidate Norman Siegel and need funding to fight these charges in State court. You can donate at the Time’s up website…www.time’s-up.org

This is not just about people fighting for their right to the road. This is about freedom of speech and free assembly which is being attacked by and administration that only cares about Football Stadiums and luxury apartment development, making the average price of an apartment $1.2 million dollars. They are trying to make it impossible to live here and impossible to ride our bikes as a group.

Lets show them who cares about the environment, the constitution and about the NYC community. Still we ride.

Wednesday, April 06, 2005

Inside 520 Kingsland Ave.

So just how many bikes does the NYPD have in 520 Kingsland Ave. in Greenpoint? How did they get here and what do they intend to do with them?

Where is Geraldo Rivera when you need him?

This picture was taken 4/4/05 inside the warehouse. Many of these bikes were not confiscated at critical mass rides...so whats the deal? I think they are stored next to the ark of the covenant and Jimmy Hoffa's body.

I think the police have auctions every so often that are listed in the New York Times. I believe after a certain amount of days (110) or so they are sold off in lots.

I noticed on ebay, the police in Oregon are selling them on the popular auction site.

Maybe the NYPD could set up www.bikeswestole.com and sell them online.

Tuesday, April 05, 2005

Visual Resistance poster series for Critical Mass NYC

Last during the Republican National Convention, when Critical Mass reached epic proportions...5,000 riders, a group was putting out an entire collection of posters of amazing artwork. This group is called:

www.visualresistance.org

Here is one person's from this groups account of Critical Mass 3/25/05 and a request for artists to put together a new series of posters to support Critical Mass.

"I went to critical mass last Friday night and after a lot of initial nervousness, ended up having a great ride with 5... then 10... then 30+ people. Our group was more or less undisturbed by the police until the very end of our ride. By the end of the weekend, NYC Indymedia was reporting 37 arrests, plus 60+ bike seizures- this on top of last weeks lawsuit by the city trying to stop Time's Up from advertising Critical Mass.

Anyone who's been to a Mass since the Republican National Convention knows the brute, stupid force the NYPD uses against each ride (check out reports from February, January, November, August). Simply put, Bloomberg and the NYPD are trying to end Critical Mass in New York.

I for one don't plan to watch that happen. Critical Mass is important for this city not just as a form of advocacy for environmentally sound transportation, but also as proof that protest can be fun, inclusive, and empowering.

Polls have shown that the public is behind Critical Mass and not the cops. This winter the rides have been pretty small, and haven't gotten a lot of press or public attention. As spring heats up, that'll change, and a smart visual campaign, in addition to the great legal work being done by Time's Up and the National Lawyers Guild, could help leverage public opinion and make the police back off.

That's where you all come in. Visual Resistance would like to facilitate a street art campaign in support of Critical Mass, and to do that we need some of the great artists and designers that visit this site to put pen to paper- or fire up Photoshop, or whatever you do best- to contibute designs. We can print up stickers and posters, and make sticker, poster, or stencil designs available for download on the site. Some possible themes would be: supporting/promoting Critical Mass; defending the right to free assembly; and promoting bicycling as a form of transportation.

For background info on Critical Mass and the city's harrassment, check the Time's Up press room and legal newswire, or look around on NYC Indymedia.

Poster designs should be 8.5x11 or 11x17, sticker and stencil designs can be any logical size. You can e-mail designs to us at visual.resistance [at] gmail.com in JPG, PDF, or Photoshop formats, 300 dpi or greater. If you prefer to send hard copies, drop us a line and we'll give you a mailing address.

We'll set up a downloads page as soon as we get some designs. I don't have a firm deadline in mind, since we can print as we get stuff in, but I would like to have some materials ready for the April 29th ride."

NY1 does a story on stolen bikes

So NY1 did air a story after all. Sometimes you send out a message to the press and they do follow through. Go figure.

Here is the story:

A group of Critical Mass riders get their bikes back from police, but they're not exactly happy about it.

The bikes were among 50 that were seized during last month's ride. Most were returned last Friday, but a few remaining bikers didn't get their rides back until Monday.

The riders say they were never charged or even issued a summons, and so they're considering a lawsuit for illegal seizure.

"I was not arrested and I was not doing anything illegal, but the police still cut my lock with a saw and confiscated my property," said Critical Mass rider Jamie Favaro.

"The police were basically told by a federal judge they cannot take property without linking it to an arrest, and they're basically in contempt of court for disobeying a federal judge's orders, said fellow rider Michael Green.

For its part, the NYPD says the bikes were seized because they were chained illegally.

A spokesman for the department says while they recognize the inconvenience of having a bike seized, it can be avoided by not chaining a bike illegally in the city. ========================

Hmmm. So I am very curious what constitutes illegal chaining of a bike?

Monday, April 04, 2005

Bike Libretad

About 8 of us freed our bikes from Bikeland Guantanamo. There were no hassles from the police, no summons, no questions. Some of the bikes were dinged up and a few chainrings bent.One person had his gear cable snaped to a vintage internal hub, which is hard to fix.

One woman who had her bike taken and not arrested in February did not get her bike back from the 520 Kingsland Ave, spot. The police do not know where it is.

NY1 news was there in answer to a press release that was sent out. A lone camera woman/reporter came an shot video of the bikes coming out of the loading dock and interviewed about 6 of us.

Bike Guantanamo

If you are involved with riding your bike once a month in a LEGAL ride known around the world as "Critical Mass" and you have a bike taken by the NYPD it will most likely end up here. This applies to NYC residents. 520 Kingsland Ave. is a warehouse for confiscated bicycles or as I like to call it the Guantanamo for our two wheeled friends located in a very industrial part of Greenpoint Brooklyn. Recently this building has seen some activity due to the constant arrests from the police on a bike ride that is perfectly legal. I picked up my bike here on Friday relatively hassle free because I was one of a dozen or so who had their bikes stolen by the cops and not charged with anything. 520 Kingsland Ave is not as far out as people would like to believe. It is just before the Greenpoint Ave. Bridge, which is one of two main arteries into Long Island City from Greenpoint Brooklyn. The other more popular route is down McGuiness Blvd and over the Pulaski Bridge. Both of these routes go over Newton Creek, which is a brown sludgy waterway that separates Brooklyn from Queens.

If you are driving from Manhattan or Williamsburg, take McGuiness and turn right onto Greenpoint Ave. Follow this for like half a mile past a lot of industrial lots and factories and then turn left onto Kingsland Ave. which is the last possible left before a bridge. There is a Storage place there and you are turning west towards Manhattan. It will feel like you are going into a dead end. There is also a fairly loud quarry to the left of this fenced in brick building but like in the picture; there is a sign out front. If you are traveling by subway you have 2 options. G train to Greenpoint ave. or the 7 train to Huntspoint ave. That seems like more of a hike.

When you get to the building. Go on the outside of the chain link fence to the right side. There is a road nestled between the quarry and the 520 Building. It will feel like you are going around to the back but it is on the left side. You will see a grey metal door up a little platform. This is the door you want to knock on. There is no buzzer so you have to knock until someone comes. I guess it is a huge building so you have to wait until they here your knock. Be patient.

The cops here are relatively nice and know what's going on. They need to see any necessary paperwork. If you were arrested you need a form from the DA's office in Manhattan. I believe at 100 centre St, (not 100% sure of the local) If you were not arrested then you need ID and it would be nice to have a picture of your bike, although it is not mandatory. Someone I was with didn't and was eventually able to go in and pick out his bike. There are thousands of bike in this space neatly stored. The cops must have an area they know are the most recent nabs, because they found mine easy. When they find your bike they will open up a big Silver roll gate. Here you will sign a paper and into a book. You will not be given any copies of paperwork or anything that tells you they took your bike. If you can, try and get a picture. It may also be a good idea to bring a patch kit, pump and a few toolsâ€¦the bikes may need to have flats fixed. Don't expect to ride home with the bike. Most of the damage I saw on about 6 bikes was cosmetic, from loading bikes in and out of the flatbed truck. I didn't see anything that was terrible malicious, a broken toe clip here or a busted gear shifter.

Also there is rumor that the cops harass you here and may give summons. I didn't witness any of this. You do have the right not to answer any of the cops questions but it seems to be a situation you could just sort of laugh off and not have to proclaimâ€¦I will not talk to you. If you can, go in groups, the cops are less likely to hassle you at all.

Apparently this place is open 8am-2:30 Monday through Friday. The cop working there said the actually close at 3:00 but don't deal with anyone after 2:30pm

Maybe this info will help. Hopefully people will stop needing to go here and the cops will stop arresting and stealing bicycles.

Saturday, April 02, 2005

Abandon Bike

This is what an abandon bike looks like in New York City. A relic of a once funtioning vehicle. These are all over NYC, chained to poles, people's property...and the NYPD does nothing about it. All of a sudden there is a bike ride which they deem as a protest...a bike ride that has been going on in NYC for 7 years without a problem. Now all of a sudden any bike on the street could cause their owner a violation in abandon property.